To prove that this summer has become the “silly season” we have selected a few of the most wrongheaded and crazy quotes by the presidential hopefuls. This is not just for summer fun and amusement but also for reflection on the quality of the debate regarding the agreement that can prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon all together, rather than in just three months without a deal as most experts predict.

We have for the more attentive, world-weary reader, and super curious a full set of pro and con quotes on an earlier blog here.

We welcome from our readers their own nominations for this proud honor!

HERE ARE THE INITIAL WRONGHEADED OR OUTRAGEOUS QUOTES:

Sen. Ted Cruz

“If this deal goes through, the Obama administration, President Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, will become the leading global financiers of radical Islamic terrorism.”

“You know one entity, one person with whom there is no ambiguity in terms of whether Iran wants a nuclear weapon is the Ayatollah Khamenei. Is President Rouhani. Both of whom explicitly said they are developing nuclear weapons. There is no doubt about it.” (Comment: not true.)

“The Iranian nuclear deal is catastrophic — the single greatest national security threat facing America. To allow a country led by a theocratic zealot ….. to have a weapon that could in the flash of an eye murder millions of Americans. We have to stop this deal.” (Comment: read assessment of our Ambassadors, national security advisors, scientists in the context of this quote…all say the deal prevents just what Cruz says will happen.)

Jeb Bush

“The Obama Administration’s negotiating strategy with Iran is called appeasement. We should walk away.” “The nuclear agreement announced by the Obama Administration today is a dangerous, deeply flawed, and short sighted deal. The people of Iran, the region, Israel, America, and the world deserve better than a deal that consolidates the grip on power of the violent revolutionary clerics who rule Tehran with an iron fist.”

“The Obama-Clinton-Kerry Iran policy has failed not only because its weak negotiating strategy will not stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability.”

(Comment: “appeasement” when supported and signed off by our Generals, former Ambassadors, expert scientists, the EU, Russia, China, NATO, and most real nuclear experts, etc? This one is a special prize!]

Sen. Bob Corker

“It’s very easy to cover up nuclear weapons. I believe you have crossed a new threshold in U.S. foreign policy where it is now our policy to enable a sponsor of terror to gain a sophisticated nuclear program.”

“And then, after 10 years, there’s something called the Iranian nuclear development program…. I actually think the deadline was working in Iran’s favor. Iran will cheat by inches.”

“I want to read the agreement in detail …. but I begin from a place of deep skepticism that the deal actually meets the goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

“It’s very easy to cover up nuclear weapons. I believe you have crossed a new threshold in U.S. foreign policy where it is now our policy to enable a sponsor of terror to gain a sophisticated nuclear program.”

“Throughout the negotiations, the Administration routinely asserted that ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’ and threatened to walk away if necessary, so clearly there was always another option for the White House — and it wasn’t war.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham

“This is the most dangerous, irresponsible step I have ever seen in the history of watching the Mideast. Barack Obama, John Kerry, have been dangerously naive.”

“This is North Korea in the making.”

“My initial impression is that this deal is far worse than I ever dreamed it could be.”

“You have created a possible death sentence for Israel.”

“This is a virtual declaration of war against Sunni Arabs.” (FYI Saudi Arabia support the deal)

“I don’t believe it’s a deal that until I get to look at it, so that’s the problem here. I betch a dollar if you looked at it, it would be a joke.”

“It’s incredibly dangerous for our national security, and it’s akin to declaring war on Sunni Arabs and Israel by the P5+1 because it ensures their primary antagonist Iran will become a nuclear power and allows them to rearm conventionally.”

“This is a bad deal, the worst possible outcome. You’ve created a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. You put Israel at risk and you put us at risk”

“I would keep the interim deal in place. The interim deal has worked better than I thought it would, so hats off to John Kerry.”

“This interim deal gives the Iranians $7 billion in cash and leaves in place one of the most sophisticated enrichment programs around.” (Comment: Not true.)

Sen. Marco Rubio

“We already know that this deal is not in the interests of the United States. It will not keep Americans safer. It will only embolden the world’s foremost sponsor of terrorism as it expands its influence and sows instability across the Middle East.”

“If he [Obama] instead chooses to conclude a deal that ensures that Iran will be a nuclear threshold state, I am confident that a majority of both houses of Congress will join me in opposing it, which will lay the foundation for our next President to undo this disaster.”

(Comment: How does a nation that could build the bomb without this agreement and now won’t be able to under the agreement be more of a threat to the region or us?)

Mike Huckabee

“This president’s foreign policy is the most feckless in American history. It is so naive that he would trust the Iranians. By doing so, he will take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven.”

“You don’t negotiate with people, especially a pyromaniac who’s standing there with a can of gasoline and a book of matches in his hand, and expect him not to start a fire.”

“This president thinks he was anointed king. I don’t know where his crown is, but this is frustrating”

Donald Trump

“I think it’s an outrage, I think it’s done by people of gross incompetence, I think it’s a tremendous win for Iran and many of our enemies and I think it’s something that shouldn’t be allowed.”

“Iran is taking over Iraq 100%, just like I predicted years ago. I say this, I didn’t want to go there in the first place. Now we take the oil.”

“We should have kept the oil. Now we go in, we knock the hell out of them, take the oil, we thereby take their wealth. They have so much money.”

“They have better internet connections than we do in the United States. They’re training our kids through the internet. We have to knock out their wealth.”

(Comment: ”incompetence” by the man who said Obama was not born in the United States? Take the oil how?)

Quotes of the Week

December 12-18, 2016:
"Alongside our outstanding military work, we have to draw upon the strength of our diplomacy. Terrorists would love to see us walk away from the type of work that builds international coalitions, and ends conflicts, and stops the spread of deadly weapons. It would make life easier for them; it would be a tragic mistake for us. " - President Obama, December 6, 2016

“You know, I'm, like, a smart person. I don't have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years. Could be eight years — but eight years. I don't need that. But I do say, ‘If something should change, let us know.’” - President-Elect Donald Trump, in dismissing daily intelligence briefings

"[The African American community] came through, big league. Big league. And frankly if they had any doubt, they didn’t vote, and that was almost as good because a lot of people didn’t show up, because they felt good about me.” - President-Elect Donald Trump in Michigan, December 9, 2016

President Obama in an interview late Monday stressed the importance of daily intelligence briefings after President-elect Donald Trump pushed back against criticism that he receives the briefings only once a week.

"It doesn't matter how smart you are. You have to have the best information possible to make the best decisions possible. [The Intelligence community is] not perfect. But they are full of extraordinarily hardworking, patriotic and knowledgeable experts. And if you're not getting their perspective, their detailed perspective, then you are flying blind." - President Obama, December 12, 2016